Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Paris Blues and my family history...hmmmmm

Have you ever seen the movie Paris Blues?

I don't think I've ever seen it, and you're probably wondering what this has to do with family history. Well a couple of days ago the answer would have been nothing. But that was a couple of days ago...before my Prehn research (that I talked about yesterday), before my recent trek to Genealogy Bank - where I let my fingers do the walking until I found..."Dallas Couple Lands in Paris Film Making."

Evidently Walter Lawrence Prehn and his wife, Carrie (Hille) Prehn, were vacationing in Europe. They made a visit to Paris and wanted to take a quick boat ride (or is that Bateau Mouche ride?) on the Seine. They arrived just as the bateau mouche was starting off. They had to jump to get on the boat, but they made it. The trip is underway, but they realize it's not going to the destination they thought. Curious they stopped a man in a beret and asked where they were going. Needless to say the man was slightly taken aback...he thought they were joking. He informed them that the ship was being used as a movie set and all the "passengers" were actors. The film? You guessed it....Paris Blues. The newspaper article goes on to say that Joanne Woodward and Sidney Poitier stopped by and apologized to the Prehns. And the man in the beret? Why he was the director, Martin Ritt. Walter and Carrie ended up as extras in the movie. So now I'm going to have to rent the movie and watch for them.

I tried to enhance the newspaper photo...but didn't have much success.

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again, I LOVE newspapers. You just never know what you're going to find. Does this add genealogically to my data? No, but I love the story and I love the little glimpse into their life. Things like this turn them from mere names into people, or ancestors.